Shadow Of The Day
by Infamoux
Summary: Miguel/Kai Cancer. Character death. A bit clichéd. Yaoi. Is, in actuality, way better than it sounds. One-shot.


**Shadow of the Day**

**Summary:** [Miguel/Kai] Cancer. Character death. A bit clichéd. Yaoi. Is, in actuality, way better than it sounds.

**Pairing:** Miguel/Kai

**Side-Pairing(s):** Ray/Claude

**Warnings: **Character death; yaoi; mild Tyson-bashing, because I can.

**Disclaimer: YES, I OWN EVERYTHING! Except, of course, the Beyblade series. Or a car. Plus Europe. Or an i-pod even. 'Kay, so I don't own everything. =w=**

**But hey, a girl can dream, can she not?**

**R'n'R, please. Huhuhu. I've always wanted to say that. x3 **

**~*~*~*~**

The sound of children laughing and playing outside drifted up to the window of a stark white room located on the second floor of the building beside the park. The pale-skinned boy in the room sat on the window seat as he surveyed the scene outside with dull, lifeless crimson-violet eyes—eyes that not long ago used to burn with a fiery inner passion.

The late afternoon sun glowed orange-gold in the sky, showering the buildings and trees with its warm rays and throwing long, dark shadows across the park, tiger-striping the area in black and amber. Kids darted in and out of the shadows, playing various self-invented games. The sound of beyblades clanging together came from the area where the pre-teen kids were battling each other whilst being cheered on by a cluster of younger kids. His lips curved upwards slightly in the faint ghost of a smile as he thought of his own friends and how they used to practice beybattles in that very park. _'Used to.'_ He thought with a pang.

A warm breeze ruffled the kids' hair as they laughed, skipped, and play-fought together. The teenaged audience to which the kids were oblivious, unconsciously touched his own scalp, covered with a navy-blue ski-cap that one of his friends had brought for him. Feeling the woolen fabric seemed to bring him out of his trance and back into reality as he sighed and looked away from the happy scene.

_**I close both locks below the window,  
I close both blinds and turn away  
Sometimes solutions aren't so simple,  
Sometimes goodbye's the only way…**_

The laughter still rang in his ears as if to mock the fact that he couldn't be a part of it. Not that he would have joined in anyway but it still hurt to know that he was trapped in this room; a prisoner with no means of escape. Leaning back against the cushion that the nurse had placed on the wall beside the window seat, he squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to block the cheerful sounds out of his mind.

When that didn't work either he sighed and moved to slide the window shut, finally succeeding in tuning-out the sound. He pulled the blinds shut against the warm glare of the afternoon sun, plunging the room into shadow and instantly making it seem colder.

_**In cards and flowers on your window,  
your friends all plead for you to stay  
Sometimes beginnings aren't so simple;  
Sometimes goodbye's the only way…**_

He had shut the blinds not only to block his view of the world outside the window, but also to prevent himself from having to look at the window itself. Every day, one half of his window became more and more cluttered with get well cards and flowers, all of which threatened to over-flow onto the rest of the window as well. Cards of an assortment of shapes, colors, and sizes, from various friends, acquaintances, and fans covered the frosted glass. The bits of space that were left were covered with singular roses and tulips, their long, green stems wrapped in a rainbow of ribbons.

But right now, the obscene—to him—piece of work was hidden behind the pale-blue blinds and he easily shoved the knowledge of its existence into the back of his mind.

He looked around the semi-dark room, lit only by a small fluorescent bulb, which was all the artificial light that he would allow in the room. In an attempt to make it livelier, his friends—namely Hilary—had placed bouquets of flowers on the small white metal table beside his bed. So the typical hospital smell of disinfectants and medicines was tinted with the sweet fragrance of roses, sweet peas, and lilies.

Surrounding the bouquets, and covering every millimeter of the tabletop, were numerous objects; boxes of chocolates (mostly from Max) that remained unopened, more get well cards, a photo album Tyson had brought, medicines, a Chinese tiger charm from Ray, and a book Mr. Dickinson had left for him so he could 'keep himself entertained', along with various other small gifts and tokens from different blading teams. Kai had never been a favorite personality-wise, but he was still a world-renown, respected blader. In the beginning of his tenure in this room, he had appreciated how much everyone wanted him to get better again. But now, after so many chemotherapy sessions that left him drained physically as well as emotionally, he had started to get sick of all the attention. He'd rather be well and free than the center of so many hopes and so much attention.

The only gift he kept near him was the ring that he wore on his right hand. The plain silver band with the words '_Te Amo_'engraved on the inside was a symbol of love for him. It was from Miguel Lavaliere; his best friend, his boyfriend, and his world.

_**And the sun will set for you;  
the sun will set for you…**__  
_

Miguel had been with Kai before and through his illness, giving him the support and love that he needed. Even though Kai could see how the pain of knowing that Miguel would lose the phoenix in the near future literally tore Miguel up inside, Kai had chosen to discontinue the chemotherapy sessions. He and Miguel had had a heart-to-heart talk about it, and they had decided that it was better for both of them—Miguel knowing that Kai was finally free of the prison of his own illness, and Kai finally being able to rest in peace. Free. And the knowledge that they would one day be together again had substantiated their decision.

_**And the shadow of the day,  
Will embrace the world in grey,**_

So now Kai sat alone in his room, waiting for Miguel to arrive and take him home. After they had halted the treatment, the doctors had given him a month to live; a month that he was determined to spend in the presence of his friends and his boyfriend_._

Still lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice that the door had opened and someone had entered till he felt strong arms wrap themselves around his slim waist from behind, jolting him back to reality. He jumped and turned his head to look over his shoulder into sapphire-blue eyes.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Miguel said, looking apologetic. "I thought you'd heard me come in."

Kai's eyes instantly lost their vacant look at the sight of his boyfriend and he nuzzled his cheek against Miguel's, "It's okay. I was just thinking."

Miguel smiled softly in understanding and asked, "Ready to leave?"

"Since the day I came here," Kai grinned weakly.

Miguel returned the grin with a smile of his own but his eyes showed a sign of sadness at Kai's weakness. The phoenix's skin had taken on a yellowish paleness, so different from the creamy white that it used to be; his toned body had grown thin; his deep and enigmatic eyes had purple smudges underneath them as if he hadn't slept for days; and most noticeable of all, where there used to be dual-colored, silky tresses, there was a close-fitting, navy-blue ski-cap hiding the baldness that had resulted from the chemotherapy chemicals. The strong young man he had once known was only left in spirit.

He had brought a carton to pack all of the gifts in and he let go of Kai to kneel beside the white table and started placing all the items inside, occasionally looking up to find Kai watching him through half-closed eyes and to return the weak smile that his phoenix would aim at him. When he was done with the things on the table, he moved to the window to pack away all the cards into a folder that he had brought and the flowers in a bag. When he looked at Kai again he saw that the younger teen was leaning back against the bed and trying to keep his eyes open. When Miguel went over to help him up the phoenix struggled feebly to get up without help.

Seeing Kai suffer this way was the main reason that Miguel had agreed with his phoenix to halt the treatment. He wanted his boyfriend to be happy, and Kai felt that he could never be truly happy again knowing the disease could come back at any time, and even with Miguel's comfort beside him, he couldn't bear to live longer if it meant he had to spend the rest of his life on a hospital bed, not living, but merely existing.

Miguel blinked away the moisture in his eyes that had blurred his vision suddenly and turned back to Kai with a soft smile, "C'mon let's get you out of here." He pulled his frail boyfriend up by the hand and put an arm around him as he tucked the folder containing the cards under his free arm and picked up the bag of flowers as well. He would come back for the carton later when he came to pay the hospital dues.

He guided Kai through the corridor, down in the elevator and through the main lobby—returning the encouraging smile that the woman at the reception gave him with a slightly sad one of his own—out the frosted-glass double doors, through the parking lot, and—placing the folder and bag on the hood of his black Cadillac **(1)** and taking out the car keys from his back pocket—unlocked the car and helped Kai into the passenger seat, closing the door and placing the items into the back before circling the car to get into the driver's seat.

Inserting the key into the ignition and turning the car on, he turned to Kai who suddenly looked more alert and full of life than he had been inside the hospital. He still looked weak but it was like walking out of the still, disinfectant-smothered hospital air into the crisp, cool night breeze had revived him. His cheeks were a bit flushed and his eyes had regained some of their sparkle. Miguel's own eyes grew soft as he leaned towards his boyfriend, cupping the enigma's chin with his hand as he softly pressed his own lips against Kai's.

Kai responded immediately, moving his lips with Miguel's, and snaking his arm up and around the blonde Spaniard's tanned neck, clutching the front of Miguel's beige jacket with his other hand, desperately trying to keep the kiss going for as long as possible—you can only get so much privacy or freedom while lying in a hospital bed, and Kai had really missed kissing his boyfriend like this; everything around them disappearing and them being locked in their own private world, filled with love and them and nothing else.

_**And the sun will set for you…**_

But—all too soon—Miguel gently broke away from Kai, stroking his phoenix's cheek with one hand and smilingly said, "Don't tax yourself too much, Kai." To which his phoenix responded with a childishly cute pout that made Miguel smile even more before he half-hugged his boyfriend with one arm—hugging in a car can be pretty difficult y'know—and kissing his still-flushed cheek, "At least wait till we get home."

"Deal," Kai smiled back.

**~*~*~*~**

"Max!" Kai called out, "Don't eat too much of that crap. If you get sick and vomit, you're not getting back in the car with us." But he said it with a slight smile that ruined the threat completely, making Max laugh childishly and flap his hand in Kai's general direction from where he was standing—bouncing—next to the cotton candy stand, mustard-slathered corn dog in one hand, cotton candy in the other and sipping orange soda out of a cup that was precariously balanced on the edge of the stand.

The G-revs were on a trip to the amusement park in Kai's honor, meaning that he had walked out of his—and Miguel's—room in the dojo that afternoon with Miguel by his side and had been ambushed by a smirking neko-jin, a hyperactive blonde, and a strange blue-red blob **(2) **and practically dragged into Miguel's car—with the owner shoved into the driving seat, of course—and told that they were taking a trip to the amusement park. Honestly, there could have been a better way to persuade Kai, like maybe _asking him._ But that didn't matter now because they were already in the amusement park and it turned out that his team had pre-planned this trip with the Battalions.

They had split into pairs when they'd entered the park and decided on meeting at the Ferris wheel in three hours. Ray had quickly pulled Claude by his side, Hilary and Mathilda had gone off together to the House of Mirrors, giggling with girly glee, Aaron and Kenny had went to check out some rides—Aaron talking excitedly about the gigantic roller coaster that he wanted to try and Kenny looking distinctly green at the thought—Max and Tyson had attacked the food stalls, and Kai had been trying to make sure their—his and Miguel's—teammates didn't harm themselves, or, more importantly, the people around themselves, while Miguel tried to get him to relax and go on rides and enjoy himself.

Kai watched as Max took three bites of the corn dog, shoved a handful of cotton-candy into his already-stuffed mouth and gulped it down with half of his soda, all in less than 60 seconds, all the while dutifully ignoring his captain's warning. Kai rolled his eyes and muttered about sugar-happy blondes, but because of the smile still playing around his lips, he was still ignored by the water-turtle.

"Let him be." Miguel grinned as he playfully nuzzled the back of Kai's neck, the phoenix instantly melting back into his boyfriend's arms. "D'you want anything to eat?"

After shooting a quick glance at his sugar-high, blonde teammate, and the bouncing-chewing-gulping-machine that was known as Tyson, attacking the food stalls, Kai grimaced and replied, "I'd rather not."

It had been almost a week since Kai was released from the hospital. He was still weak—and gradually growing weaker day by day as the cancerous cells spread through his system—but he wouldn't listen to everyone's reasoning that he should be resting, by arguing that he could have rested in the hospital and that since he had been released, he'd much rather spend his time with the people he loved, as teammates; Ray, Max, Tyson,—well, maybe not Tyson— and Kenny. As family; Tala, Bryan, Spencer, and Ian. As friends; his teams, both past and present, plus a couple of other bladers. And as his life; Miguel.

Chuckling, Miguel started to lead him by the hand over to the Ferris wheel, "C'mon it's almost been three hours. The others are probably waiting." Pausing, he looked over his shoulder at the still-under-attack food stalls, "Should we tell Max and Tyson to come too?"

Kai laughed quietly, "Nah. They're still gonna be here even if we came back tomorrow."

Miguel grinned in response and continued to the Ferris wheel, tugging slightly on Kai's hand, pausing again to kiss his boyfriend's pale cheek softly, before continuing to the Ferris wheel. The sun had set quite a while ago and the sky was growing steadily darker. People—mothers with truckloads of children, families, and couples with intertwined hands—moved around them, laughing and teasing, scolding and play-fighting, or simply just reveling in their partner's presence.

When they reached the Ferris wheel, they saw that the others were already there so they got into separate cabins; Hilary and Mathilda in one **(3)**, Aaron and Kenny **(4)** in another, followed by Ray and Claude, the neko-jin keeping an almost possessive hand on the other's arm—there was something going on between those two—, and lastly Miguel and Kai.

The Ferris wheel began its slow motion, with children inside laughing with their noses pressed against the glass while their mothers gently scolded them to behave, and couples sharing gentle conversations and kisses.

Once Kai and Miguel's cabin had reached the top, the wheel stopped with a slight jolt. They looked out of the window as the fireworks began exploding out over the river, bright flashes of red, blue, green, pink, purple, and gold illuminating the dark sky, the water throwing glittering reflections back up at them.

Miguel pulled Kai into a soft kiss as the first flashes started to explode; their kiss soon turned passionate as Miguel pulled the younger teen into his lap and wrapped an arm around his boyfriend's petite waist, his other hand resting on the phoenix's shoulder. Kai responded just as passionately, entangling one hand in Miguel's silky, sand-blond tresses, and wrapping the other around the Spaniard's neck as he opened his mouth to allow the older teen's tongue entrance, tilting his head to offer the Spaniard a better angle.

They didn't even notice that the ride had started to move again until there was the click of a bolt being unbolted and a slightly embarrassed cough and they sprang apart, both blushing furiously, to see the ride attendant staring at them. Kai blushed darker, while Miguel coughed slightly, mimicking the attendant's tone, as Kai and Miguel quickly tried to straighten their disheveled clothes. Miguel stood and grabbed Kai's hand, kissing his phoenix's cheek again before running a hand through his own now-messy blond hair, tugging his boyfriend out of the cabin with him.

Their teammates were waiting for them, and by the look of Ray and Claude's flushed faces and slightly disheveled hair and clothes, it was easy to see why they'd been acting so weird around each other these past few months. Miguel flashed Claude a knowing smile as they all piled back into Miguel's car.

**~*~*~*~**

The late morning sun shone down through green-laden branches filled with twittering birds and threw patches of gold around the two boys lying under the tree. The older one was leaning back against the rough bark, with the younger lying partly on top of him, his ski cap-clad head resting on the older teen's chest. The rays of warm, golden light danced on their skin—both tanned and pale—, illuminating their peaceful features while they slept. It shone on tousled blond and close-fitting black alike. As the shining golden light fell on the younger one's face, he furrowed his brow slightly and mumbled curses at the sun as he buried his face in the soft material encasing his boyfriend's toned chest. Miguel chuckled lightly as he wrapped his arms around the half-asleep phoenix and kissed the top of his head.

"'Morning, _amor_" Miguel murmured as he hugged his boyfriend closer.

Crimson-violet eyes opened sleepily and their owner rubbed at one of them with his hand as he yawned slightly. Kai shifted himself so he could look at his gargoyle properly and smiled softly as he replied, "'Morning."

"Did you sleep well?" Miguel asked, kissing the enigma's unnaturally pale cheek, pulling the light blanket that covered them both closer around them. Kai's response was muffled as he once again buried his face into the soft material of his boyfriend's T-shirt, deeply breathing in the familiar, masculine scent. Miguel chuckled softly again as he gently pulled his boyfriend's face level with his own and pressed their lips together softly.

_***((Flashback))***_

_Miguel was woken as the bed that he and Kai shared shifted and he heard soft footsteps padding around the room. He opened his eyes slowly and glanced at the illuminated, glow-in-the-dark digits on the alarm clock that rested on the bedside table; 3:24 AM._

_He sat up in bed and ran a hand through his tousled hair as his eyes scanned the room for his phoenix. When he couldn't locate him he quickly got out of bed and padded to the door. Opening it softly, so as not to wake the others inhabitants of the dojo, he stepped out of the room and proceeded to the rice-paper screen-door that led to the backyard—checking in the kitchen and lounge area on the way—and stepped out into the cool night air._

_He felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth when he saw Kai sitting in his favorite spot; under the big sakura tree in the backyard, eyes turned towards the heavens as their owner surveyed the star-spangled sky and the faint pink glow spreading in the East. He padded barefoot off the wooden verandah and over the paving stones to the young enigma. Kai looked up when his keen ears heard someone approaching, pale-pink lips curving into a slight smile at the sight of his boyfriend. _

"_Couldn't sleep," he said, by way of explanation._

_Miguel nodded and went inside. He returned a few moments later with a light, baby-blue blanket and sat down beside Kai, leaning against the tree and pulling his phoenix into his lap, spreading the blanket over both of them. Kai leaned back into his boyfriend's warmth and kissed his gargoyle's cheek. Miguel smiled in reply, and rested his chin on top of the phoenix's head as they both settled back to watch the sunrise. _

_***((End of Flashback))***_

**~*~*~*~**

"Miguel, come home quick!" Ray's voice cried frantically on the other side of the phone. Miguel had gone out to do some groceries and had been about to place a carton of eggs and some sticks of butter into the trolley when his cell phone rang. Balancing the butter on top of the egg carton in one hand as he fished in his jeans' pocket for his cell phone, and flicking it open with his thumb, he saw Ray's number flashing on the caller I.D. The two words that he'd been dreading to hear were what Ray uttered next: "It's Kai!"

The eggs splattered when the carton along with the butter hit the ground, but Miguel, running blindly out of the store to his car, didn't even notice.

**~*~*~*~**

Fear.

_**And the shadow of the day,**_

Anger.

_**Will embrace the world in grey,**_

_  
_Loss.

_**And the sun will set for you…**_

Hurt.

**~*~*~*~**

Mourners dressed in black shuffled quietly past the grave, paying their last respects. Girls, and even some males and adults, cried quietly as they looked down at the black marble tombstone. Streaks of crimson ran through its polished, glossy surface on which an epitaph was carved;

_R.I.P._

_Hiwatari Kai_

_1991-2008_

_The true victor_

_Is not the last one standing, _

_But the one who fought the best battle._

Framing these words were embossed and stylized crimson wings, to honor his blading status and his beyblade itself. Dranzer was buried with him.

A light drizzle started up as the people started to leave. Only one figure remained kneeling beside the grave; face upturned; sapphire eyes squeezed shut as tears mingled with raindrops, running down his tanned face in crystalline rivulets; a single red rose clutched in his hands.

The only slightly comforting thought that came to him was that one day, they'd be together again.

**~*~*~*~**

A tanned hand reached down to place a red rose in front of the black marble tombstone, as another paler hand placed a black rose in front of the black granite tombstone next to it. Claude straightened up, eyes swimming with tears, and looked at the older man next to him. Ray stepped closer to his boyfriend and wiped away a tear that had spilled out of its violet confinement and onto the pale, creamy skin.

Wrapping an arm around the eagle's slim waist, the neko-jin pulled his boyfriend closer to himself and murmured, "At least they're finally together."

Claude nodded as a soft, sad smile made its way onto his lips, "They're happy wherever they are…"

They turned to the graves and stood for a while looking at the similar tombstones, except one was newer and had violet streaks running through it's highly-polished surface and the epitaph, framed by silver gargoyle wings, was different;

_Miguel Lavaliere_

_1990-2009_

_Friend, Teammate, Blader,_

_&_

_Lover_

And at the base of both tombstones was an identical message;

_Two hearts intertwined,_

_One_

_Could not beat,_

_Without the other_

_**And the shadow of the day,  
Will embrace the world in grey,  
And the sun will set for you…**__**  
**_

**~*~*~*~**

***Sniff* that was so sad. ;^; Bittersweet. ;^; I **_**really**_** didn't want to kill them but it had to be done. ;^; You're welcome to throw objects at me. ;^;**

**This took me, like, **_**FOREVER**_** to write. Mainly because I wasn't sure whether to make this a multi-chaptered thing or a one-shot. But then I remembered that it was, technically, a **_**song-fic**_**, so I got my lazy behind here and wrote it down as a one-shot.**

**This is, by far, the longest one-shot I've ever written (over 5,000 words, yay me.) 'Cause they're usually, like, around 2,000 words so… =3**

**And I'm pretty dang proud of it. Even though it was **_**so**_** hard to kill them. ;^; Come back MiKa. ;;^;;**

**I really enjoyed writing all the fluff though. =3 And—*presses index fingers together sheepishly*—I'm gonna use the 'but there's also tonnes of fluff in there!' excuse as my justification for killing them. ^^;;;;;; **

***EDIT!!*: I know I've put Kai's name as Hiwatari, Kai and Miguel's as Miguel Lavaliere, I just noticed. O.o But I'm gonna leave it that way, 'cause in Japan, the surname usually goes first. (Or so I've heard. Correct me if I' wrong. ^^)**

***A/N:***

**1. I couldn't decide what car he should have and since I was listening to Good Charlotte's 'All Black' at the time, I decided to use the car in the song. xD (Btw, it's a good/amusing song, give it a listen. =3)**

**2. .… xD Couldn't resist, yo. xD xD A little Tyson-bashing never fails to amuse me. x3**

**3. Just so you people know, I don't write yuri, and this is **_**not**_** MatxHil. =3**

**4. Btw, this isn't AaronxKenny either. *shudders* I'm weird but not asylum-material yet, thank you very much. x3**

**Anyways, I hope you people enjoyed/found it bearable. =3**

**If you did, you know what to do!**

**Review! **

**It's the nice thing to do. O,o**

**Good thing I'm not a poet; I'd die of starvation. xD;**


End file.
